Straight-bar knitting machine



H. w. s'rAR'r ETAL STRAIGHT-BAR KNITTING MACHINE Jan. 23, 1945.

Filed Nov. 24, 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Jan. 23, 1945. H. w. START ETAL2,367,972 I STRAIGHT-BAR KNITTING MACHINE Filed NOV. 24, 1943 3Sheets-Sheet 2 1% P as P r '2 in 3 #3 3?? R? 131 'l Jan. 23, 1945. H, w,START ET AL 2,367,972

STRAIGHT-BAR KNITTING MACHINE Filed Nov. 24, 1943 3 sheets sheet 3 Fig9."

Patented Jan. 23, 1945 STRAIGHT-BAR KNITTING momma Harry Wilfred Start,Carlton, and Ernest Start, Wilford, England Application November 24,1943, Serial No. 511,578

In Great Britain August 29, 1942 13 Claims.

This invention relates to. improvements in straight-bar knittingmachines and refers to the method of operating the thread carriers andparticularly the plating or splicing thread carriers of such machines.It is well known that when producing plated work on a straight-barknitting machine the plating thread carriers must traverse only a shortdistance in front of the slur cock in order to maintain the correctdisposition of the plating thread in the work. When work is beingproduced on less than the full width of the needles the plating threadcarriers must be held each course until they are the correct distance infront of the slur cocks and must then immediately start to traverse andmainta n their lead of the slur cocks across the full width of the work.The plating thread carriers work only a very short distance in front ofthe slur cocks and consequently mechanism for slowing down the platingthread carriers when they have nearly reached the end of their traversecannot be used otherwise the slur cocks would overtake the threadcarriers and cause serious damage to the machine. In machines ashitherto constructed the plating thread carriers are frictionally drivenand in order therefore to overcome the inertia of the plating mechanismand start at the appropriate moment, and to reduce to a reasonableamount the impact of the plating thread carrier bar or bars on the endstops to prevent/excessive wear, the speed of the machine has to beconsiderably reduced during the production of plated work with aconsequent decrease in the output obtainable from the machine.

The object of the present invention is toprovide thread carriermechanism, particularly plating mechanism which will permit of plated orspliced work being produced with the machine running at the same speedas that normally used for the production of ordinary work.

According to this invention the plating thread carriers are each drivenby a member reciprocated by a driving bar between end stops. The

-driven member is preferably mounted on the driving bar and positivelydriven thereby and the driving connection between the driving bar andthe driven member is so arranged that the connection is made when theplating thread carriers are disposed a predetermined distance in frontof the slur cocks and broken when the member engages the end stops.Locking mechanism is provided to obviate rebound of the member when itengages the end stops.

The invention will now be more particularly described with reference tothe accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a sectional side elevation showing part of a straight-barknitting machine constructed according to our invention,

Fig. 2 is a sectional side elevation showing thread carrier drivingmembers and the driving bars and stop bars associated therewith.

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of a thread carrier driving member and thedriving bar, end stops and stop bars associated therewith,

Fig. 4 is a front elevation showing the thread carrier driving member inengagement with the left hand end stop,

Fig. 5 is a front elevation showing the thread carrier driving member inengagement with the right hand end stop,

Fig. 6 is a plan of the thread carrier driving member,

Fig. 7 is a sectional plan of the thread carrier driving member showingthe driving bar and driving recesses formed therein,

Fig. 8 is a front elevation of the thread guide driving member with thefront of the latterremoved showing the connection between the drivingbar and driven member when the latter is traversing from left to right,

Fig. 9 is a front elevation showing mechanism for adjusting the positionof the outer end stops of two thread-carrier driving members adapted tooperate the heel splicing thread carriers and Fig. 10 is a sectionalside elevation of part of a straight-bar knitting machine showing themethod of adjusting the end stop controlling mechanism shown in Fig. 9.

Figs. 3 to 8 are drawn to a larger scale than the remaining figures.

Only suflicient of the mechanism of a straightbar knitting machine toenable the invention to be understood is shown in the drawings.

Like letters indicate like parts throughout the I drawings.

In carrying out this invention a driving bar A is provided for eachplating or splicing thread carrier and this driving bar is mounted inbearings so that it can slide longitudinally and is reciprocated by thedraw mechanism of the machine and to the same extent as the slur bar Bof the machine. The slur bar B which carries the slur cocks B may bereciprocated in well known manner by Coulier mechanism as shown in Fig.1 or in any other convenient manner. Each driving bar A provided in themachine is connected to the 'slur bar in any convenient manner. Theconnection may be conveniently made by a bolt C provided in connectionwith each driving bar and mounted on a bar D attached to the slur bar Bbrackets E, only one of which is shown in the drawings, the end of thebolt C engaging between abutments provided for the purpose on thedriving bar. The driving bars A replace the thread guide bars normallyused for operating the slicing thread carriers and are preferablydisposed in the same position in the machine and carried by the bracketswhich carry the normal thread carrier bars F. The use of bolts C asdescribed enables the driving bars to be quickly put into and out ofaction as required. Mounted on each driving bar A and reciprocatedthereby is a member G, hereinafter referred to as the driven member, andin order to provide a driving connection between the driving bar A andthe driven member G the following arrangement is adopted.

Pivoted on the driven member G are two oppositely disposed levers H, J.Thes'e levers H, J may be mounted on a common pivot K disposed at rightangles to the axis of the driving bar A and the ends of the levers H andJ are adapted to engage with abutments on the driving bar and provide adriving connection between the driving bar and the driven member. Theends of the levers are so shaped that they provide a driving connectionin one direction only and are so arranged that the lever H provides thedriving connection when the driving bar moves from left to right and thelever J when driving bar moves from right to left.

In order to control the amplitude of movement of the driven member, endstops are provided. These end stops L, M, see Fig. 3 are mounted on bars0, P which are adjusted longitudinally as will be hereinafter describedin order that the distance traversed by the driven member G may bevaried from time to time and are so disposed that they engage with theends of the driven members G as shown in Figs. 4 and 5 or abutmentssecured thereto.

In'order to disconnect the driving connection between the driving bar Aand the driven member G when the latter engages the end stops thefollowing arrangement is adopted. Each of the levers H, J previouslydescribed is provided with an extension or tail H J which is so disposedthat it engages with a cam surface Q on the appropriate end stop andangularly adjusts the lever to disengage it from the abutment on thedriving bar A when the driven member G engages the end stop. In order toprevent rebound of the driven member when it engages the end stops,detents R are mounted on the latter and these detents may engage withprojections provided in a suitable position on the driven member whenthe latter engages the end stops and lock' it in engagement therewithuntil such time as the detents are released.

The abutments which engage with the ends of the pivoted levers, H, Jpreviously described may conveniently comprise the ends of recesses A Aformed in the driving bar A and shown more clearly in Fig. 7 and aspring S is provided to engage with the levers and move their ends intothe recesses at the appropriate time. With this arrangement theprojections with which the dedetents R when the ends of the respectivelevers move into the recesses. The arrangement works in the followingmanner. When the driving bar A moves from right to left the lever Jengages in the recess A (see Fig. 3) and drives the driven member Gtowards the left hand end stop L.

As the driven member approaches near to the end stop L the tail J on thelever J engages with the cam surface Q on the end stop L the cam surfaceQ being so shaped that it disengages the lever J from the recess A inthe driving bar just before the driving member G engages the end stop L.At the same time as the driven member G engages the end stop L and thedetent R carried thereby engages with the projection H on the lever H,which is in an inoperative position during this motion, and preventsrebound of the driven member from the end stop as shown in Fig. 4. Whenthe driving bar A moves in the reverse direction that is from left toright the detent R is disengaged from the projection H on the lever Hwhen the end of the latter drops into engagement with the recess A inthe driving bar when the recess is in the appropriate position and thedriven member G is moved from left to right towards theright hand endstop M as shown in Fig. 3. The tail H on the lever H engages the camsurface Q on the right hand end stop M just before the driven memberengages therewith and disengages the lever H from the recess A Thedetent R on the right hand end stop M engages with the projection J onthe lever J, which is in an inoperative position during this motion,when the driven member engages the end stop M to prevent rebound asshown in Fig. 5. The projection J will be disengaged from the detent Rwhen the lever' J drops into engagement with the recess A in the drivingbar A at the appropriate time on the next motion of the driving bar fromright to left.

The detents R are normally held on stops R by springs R and they areraised to engage with projections on the levers H, J by the upper endsof the projections engaging with the inclined surface R on the ends ofthe detents as they pass under them.

In the preferred construction a driving bar A is'provided in place ofeach plating thread carrier bar and is disposed in the machine in theplace normally occupied by the plating thread carrier bars. A drivenmember G is provided in conjunction with each plating thread carrier andthese thread carriers T may conveniently be secured to the driven memberG as shown in the drawings or be made as a part thereof. It will beunderstood that in a machine having a plurality of knitting head thedriving bars may @1 tend across any desired number of heads and a drivenmember and thread carrier is provided for each head of the machine.Recesses A A are provided on the driving bar for each driven member andthese recesses are disposed so that the plating thread carrier T alwaysstarts its motion when it is the correct distance in front of the slurcock and it maintains this position relative to the slur cockuntil ithas completed its motion. Two stop bars 0, P are provided in conjunctionwith each driving bar, the left hand end stop for each driven memberbeing disposed on one bar and the right hand end stop on the other.

The bars 0,-P are moved longitudinally to idjust the position of'the endstops to control the shape of the splicing and may be moved from time totime as is necessary by any convenient mechanism.

In Fig. 9 two plating or splicing thread carriers T are shown and theouter end stops are carried by the bars 0 whilst the inner end stops arecarried by the bars P. It will be understood with each knitting headacross which the driving bars A extend. I The stop bars 0. may be movedat the appropriate time by screw' and nut mechanism comprising a, screwU formed with right and left hand screw threaded parts each providedwith a nut U carrying a bolt, U adapted to engage between abutments Uprovided on the stop bars. The screw U is turned to the requisite extentto move the stop bars and adjust the position of the end stops by a pawlV (see Fig. 10) engaging with a ratchet wheel V secured to the screw U,the pawl being operated by a lever W angularly adjusted by a cam W onthe mainshaft W of the machine engaging with a truck W on the lever W.The truck W is moved into and out of engagement with the cam W at theappropriate times in well known manner by an arm W secured on a shaft Wwhich is longitudinally adjusted by a stud on the pattern chain orcontrol drum of the machine. Similar ratchet and pawl mechanism may beprovided to turn the screw U in the reverse direction. The bars P whichcarry the inner end stop are moved by mechanism similar to thatdescribed for movin the stop bars 0 so that independent control of theouter and inner end stops is provided to enable any desired shape of the-plated or spliced work being obtained.

In order to prevent the driven members bonding forward when a leverthereon engages with the driving bar at the start of the drive, a lightines G formed in the front of the drivin member.

Preferably a tube is used to hold the spring plate G in its operativeposition and extends up to a point above the stop bars so as to form athread guide to keep the thread clear of the adjacent stop and drivingbars.

The above description describes the invention in connection with theoperation of the plating or splicing thread carriers. Figs. 1 and 2 showthree driving bars and associated stop bars, two

cf the driving bars are adapted to operate the heel and sole splicingcarriers shown in Fig. 9 whilst thethird may be used to operate the toesplicing carrier. It will however be understood that the mechanismdescribed may also be used to operate any of the other thread carriersin the machine and the recesses in the respective driving bars arrangedso that the thread carriers in operation at any one time always move ina constant relation to each other. It will be seen that the traverse ofthe driven members is controlled by the end stops and that the drivingbar traverse the same distance as the slur bar and as the recesses inthe driving bar are shaped so that they drive in one direction only thelevers will be returned to an inoperative position if they engage intheir respective recesses when the driving bar is moving in the wrongdirection to drive the driven member through that particular lever.

ill

With the construction described the driven members A can be made verylight in weight and consequently they can be moved into operation athigh speed whilst at the same time maintaining the correct position ofthe plating thread carriers relative to the slur cocks and brought torestfrom a high speed without heavy impact with the end stops so thatplated work can be produced at the same speed as normal knitting withoutundue wear and tear of the machine.

In an alternative construction one driven member constructed andoperated as described is utilised to operate each normal plating threadcarrier bar. With this arrangement however the driven member would needto be of more robust construction and consequently of much greaterweight than those used in the previous arrangement and furthermore theplating thread carrier bar would also need to be started and stoppedeach motion of the machine when plating. The weight of the moving partswith this arrangement are consequently much more than that of the movingparts .in the construction previously described with a consequentincrease in the wear on the machine when run at high speed.

What we claim as our invention is:

1. A straight-bar knitting machine comprising in combination with eachknitting head of the machine of one or more thread carriers, a member todrive each thread carrier, oppositely disposed levers pivoted on themember, a reciproeating driving bar for each member, abutments on eachreciprocating driving bar to engage with the levers on its associatedmember to drive the latter, end stops to limit the movement of themembers and means to disconnect the levers from the abutments when themember engage with or are close to the end stops.

2. A straight-bar knitting machine comprising in combination with eachknitting head of the eating driving bar for each member, recesses in thedriving bars to receive the ends of the levers of the associated membersto drive the latter, end stops to limit the movement of the members andmeans to disengage the levers from the re- :esses when the membersengage with or are close to the end stops.

3. A straight-bar knitting machine comprising in combination with eachknitting head of the machine of one or more thread carriers, a member todrive each thread carrier, oppositel disposed levers pivoted on themember, a reciprocating driving bar for each member, recesses in thedriving bars to receive the ends of thele gers of the associated membersto drive the latter, end stops to limit the movement of the members, camsurfaces on the end stops and tails on the levers to engage with the camsurface on the appropriate end stop to disengage them from the recesseswhen the members engage with or are close the recesses when the membersengage with or are close to the end stops, extensions on the levers anddetents on the end stops to engage with the extension on the appropriatelever to prevent rebound of the member when it engages with the endstops.

5. A straight-bar knitting machine comprising in combination with eachknitting head of the machine of one or more thread carriers, a member todrive each thread carrier, a reciprocating driving bar for each member,oppositely disposed levers pivoted on each member, recesses in eachdriving bar to receive the ends of the levers of the associated memberto drive the latter, a spring to move the levers into the recesses, endstops to limit the movement of the members, means to disengage thelevers from the recesses when the members engage with or are close tothe end stops and means to prevent rebound of the member from the endstops when it engages therewith.

6. A straight-bar knitting machine comprising in combination with eachknitting head of the machine of one or more thread carriers each mountedon a driving member, a reciprocating bar for each driving member, leverspivoted 9. A straight-bar knitting machine comprising in combinationwith each knitting head of the machine of one or more thread carriers, amember to drive each thread carrier, a reciprocating bar for eachdriving member, levers pivoted on the driving members and adapted toengage with abutments on the reciprocating bars to drive the threadcarriers a predetermined distance in front of the slur cooks, a lightfrictional contact between the driving members and the reciprocatingbars to prevent the driving members bounding forward when the leversengage with the abutments, end stops to limit the travon the drivingmembers and adapted to engage means to disengage the levers from theabutments when the driving members engage with or are close to the endstops, and means to prevent rebound of the driving members when theyengage with the end stops.

- 7. A straight-bar knitting machine comprising in combination with eachknitting head of the machine of one or more thread carriers each mountedon a driving member, a reciprocating bar for each driving member, leverspivoted on the driving members, said reciprocating bars having recessestherein to engage with the ends of the levers and drive the threadcarriers a predetermined distance in front of the slur cock, springs onthe levers to move them into engagement with the recesses, end stops tolimit the movement of the driving members, means to disengage the leversfrom the recesses when the driving members engage with or are close tothe end stops and means to prevent rebound of the driving members whenthey engage with the end stops. I

8. A straight-bar knitting machine comprising in combination with eachknitting head of the machine of one or more thread carriers, a member todrive each thread carrier, a reciprocating driving bar for each member,catches providing a positive driving connection between the member andthe reciprocating bar, end stops to limit the traverse of the member,means to adjust the position of the end stops to vary the traverse ofthe member, and means to disen gage the catches when the member engageswith the end stops.

erse of the driving members, means to disengage the levers from theabutments when the driving members engage with or are close to the endstops, and means to prevent rebound of the driving members when theyengage with the end stops.

10. A straight-bar knitting machine comprising in combination with eachknitting head of the machine of one or more thread carriers, a drivingbar for each thread carrier, a driving member for each driving bar, areciprocating bar for each driving member, pivoted levers adapted toengage with abutments to provide a driving connection between thedriving members and the reciprocating bars, end stops to limit thetraverse of the driving members, means to disengage the levers from theabutments when the driving members engage with or are close to the endstops, and means to prevent rebound of the driving members when theyengage with the end stops.

11. A straight-bar knitting machine according to claim 10 in which thelevers are formed with tails adapted to engage with cam' surfaces on theend stops to disengage the levers from the abutments when the drivingmembers engage with or are close to the end stops.

12. A straight-bar knitting machine according to claim 10 in which thelevers are formed with extensions which are engaged by detents on theend stops when the driving members engage therewith to prevent reboundof the driving members from the end stops.,

13. A straight-bar knitting machine comprising in combination with eachknitting head of the machine of one or more thread carriers, a drivingbar for each thread carrier, a driving member for each driving bar, areciprocating bar for each driving member, a driving connection betweenthe reciprocating bars and driving members, end stops to limit themovement of the driving membersfmeans to disengage the drivingconnection when the driving members engage with or are close to the endstops and means to prevent rebound of the driving members when theyengage with the end stops, said driving connection comprising oppositelydisposed levers pivoted on the driving members and having ends adaptedto engage with abutments formed on the reciprocating bars.

HARRY WILF'RED START. ERNEST START.

